Should international refugee law accommodate climate change? Can the UN help to protect people seeking safety abroad if their homes and jobs are destroyed by prolonged drought, rising sea levels or other climate change-related phenomena in the same way it can if they are displaced by war or human rights abuses? The short answer, today anyway, is no. The more considered response challenges the legal notion of what it is to be a refugee, and raises questions about how much political will there is to even begin a global discussion on an issue that UN experts say was unimaginable a few decades ago (UN News Centre – 3/07/14).

Focus on Migration: Inside the head of a migrant: New research that draws on behavioural economics and social psychology to understand decision-making, especially in relation to climate-related migration, is starting to shed light on why people choose to migrate. Researchers have started to develop models which are beginning to reveal meaningful insights and predictions about what will trigger migration. (SciDevNet – 21/07/14).

Designing effective MOOCs for refugees: There are many problems that need to be overcome before the full potential of online learning can be realized for refugees. But solutions are said to already be on the horizon. (SciDevNet – 22/07/14)

World Day against Trafficking in Persons: The Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, commemorated the first world day against Trafficking in Persons with a call for action to end the crime and give hope to the victims. He further urged all countries to ratify and fully implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol on Trafficking in Persons. (UN – 30/07/14)

On World Day against Trafficking in Persons, UN calls for action to eradicate scourge: Despite encouraging progress – 90 per cent of countries now have legislation criminalizing human trafficking – convictions reported globally remain extremely low. UN officials highlight the need to expose traffickers, safeguard vulnerable children, women and men, and protect the victims – people who have been pressed into servitude and often exposed to abuse. (UN News Centre – 30/07/14)

REGIONAL

WFP: African refugee camps 'no longer attract global awareness': According to the World Food Programme Country Director for DRC this may be attributed to donations being directed to current crises such as Syria, ‘donor fatigue’, effects of the global financial crises, and the rising number of crisis hotspots. Together with UNHCR, the WFP has appealed to governments for more money to help feed refugees in Africa. Cuts in daily food rations have already been made. (Deutsche Welle – 3/07/14).

New thinking needed on food aid for refugees in Africa: As food rations in refugees camps across African are cut, UNHCR advocates that refugees should be allowed to settle in communities rather than in camps, however, governments have the final say when it comes to the refugees they host. For now, few are willing to grant refugees even basic economic freedoms such as the right to work and live outside of camps. Overcoming this reluctance will mean convincing host nations that, given the chance, refugees have the capacity to boost rather than burden local economies. (IRIN – 7/07/14)

The U.N. Now Has an 850-Calorie “Diet” for Refugees: United Nations announced it is cutting food rations in half to 850 calories a day for roughly 450,000 African war refugees. The U.N does not want to cut food aid. But the agencies involved have a $189 million funding gap. (Vocativ – 22/07/14)

ERITREA

UN refugee agency warns Sudan over forced return of Eritrean asylum seekers: Sudan has forced dozens of Eritrean refugees and other asylum seekers to return to their home country, UNHCR said today, warning that the recent deportations are “an act of repression” and could place the lives and liberty of those expelled at risk. UNHCR said it was deeply concerned over recent forced returns of Eritrean and other asylum seekers and refugees from Sudan, including an incident in Eastern Sudan on 30 June where 74 Eritreans were sent back to Eritrea through Laffa border crossing point, according to information received from immigration authorities. (UN News Centre – 4/07/14)

The glass people: [Opinion piece] Some Eritrean families deserve the status of political refugees, at least temporarily, their peace of mind is more than a human rights issue. (Jerusalem Post – 3/07/14)

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia facing flood of South Sudan refugees: Ethiopia is facing a huge wave of refugees from South Sudan, where the spectre of famine threatens to heap further misery on a people already rocked by civil war, the WFP has warned. There are already around 147 000 South Sudanese refugees in camps in neighbouring Ethiopia, and at least 1 500 more are crossing the border every week. (News 24 – 2/07/14).

IOM Regional Response to South Sudan Crisis: The number of South Sudanese refugees has passed the 150,000 mark making Ethiopia the biggest receiving country of South Sudanese refugees. Since the beginning of the crisis, 158,164 total number refugees have entered Ethiopia. (Reliefweb – 6/07/14).

U.S. official wants more aid for refugees flowing into Ethiopia: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration, Anne Richard, expressed shock at the number of South Sudanese refugees flowing into Ethiopia. After visiting camps in western Ethiopia, where 167,000 refugees have arrived since South Sudan descended into civil war last December, she said she will persuade the U.S. public to increase their assistance. (UNHCR­ – 14/07/14).

Ethiopia faces wave of refugees from South Sudan, warns UN relief official: South Sudan is the most rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the world today, according to a senior United Nations relief operations official. An estimated 180,000 refugees (mostly women and children) have arrived in Ethiopia from South Sudan since the violence erupted in late 2013 with numbers set to reach 300,000-350,000 by the end of this year (UN News Centre – 23/07/14)

Ethiopian youth earn income while restoring natural resources: Rather than pursue a risky migration abroad, or simply become resigned to a life of extreme poverty, landless youth in a chronically food insecure district in Ethiopia are staying in their families’ villages, while also earning an income. They are doing this by participating in the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program, a USAID-supported project to restore their local watershed and rejuvenate degraded land. (USAID – 09/07/14)

EUROPE

IOM condemns people smugglers who send migrants fleeing hardship to their deaths in the Mediterranean: After the Italian navy found some 30 bodies in a fishing boat carrying up to 600 migrants between the Libyan coast and Sicily, IOM called on European countries to provide additional resources for rescue operations in the Mediterranean. It also stated smugglers are increasingly putting migrants aboard unsafe vessels, without sufficient fuel to make the crossing. Life vests are rarely found aboard the migrant vessels, as smugglers prefer cramming more people aboard to increase the profitability of every passage. (IOM Press Room – 1/07/14).

Deep sorrow for new loss of lives in the Mediterranean. Over 500 deaths in 2014. It is estimated that about 500 refugees and migrants died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2014. Despite the enormous efforts made by the Italian authorities and the constant help lent by private vessels, hundreds of innocent refugees and migrants continue to lose their life at the frontiers of Europe. (UNHCR Italia – 2/07/14)

How can Britain keep out illegal immigrants travelling here in dinghys?: The spate of attempted illegal crossings across the English Channel has raised questions about the UK’s capability to stop the people smugglers. The UK Border Force, part of the Home Office, has the duty to intercept illegal immigrants. But it has just five unarmed patrol ships for the UK's 11,000 miles of coastline and has other duties including boarding boats that are suspected of being used to smuggle drugs. (Daily & Sunday Express – 5/07/14)

Migration discussed at OSCE meeting: The need for a complete reform of the migration policy at EU level and including countries of origin and transition was discussed and agreed upon during a meeting of the Organization of Security and Cooperation for Europe. (Times of Malta – 6/07/14)

Asylum Requests Shoot Up in Europe: Almost half a million people requested asylum in Europe last year, 30 percent more than in 2012 and the highest number yet registered. Syrians accounted for around 50,000 of the 435,760 applications registered in 2013. (Naharnet - 7/07/14)

Italy rescues more than 2,600 boat migrants over weekend: Italy’s search and rescue mission saved more than 2,600 migrants from boats in the Mediterranean over the weekend of the 5th – 6th of July, as the number reaching Italy from Africa this year surges to a record. (Reuters – 7/04/14)

Italy appeals for help in migrant rescues: Faced by a flood of would-be migrants heading for Europe's shores in rickety boats, the Italian navy's rescue operation is desperate for help. More than 66,000 people have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year compared with just under 43,000 for the whole of 2013 (Global Post – 8/07/14)

The Human Cost of Fortress Europe: Every year, thousands of migrants and refugees try to reach Europe. The response of the European Union (EU) and its member states has been to invest in surveillance technology, security forces. This report describes some of the key elements of the EU’s migration policy and how this policy plays out at the EU border. (Amnesty International – 8/07/14)

Growing refugee numbers call for EU solidarity: While more and more people seek asylum in Europe, the EU's interior ministers are finding it hard to agree on how to divide responsibility for refugees between the EU member states.(Deutsche Welle – 8/07/14)

Parts of Britain struggling with immigration, say government advisers: An influx of immigrants to Britain in the last decade has left parts of the country struggling to cope with the extra pressure on public services, a panel of government advisers said. Immigration has joined the economy at the top of voter concerns ahead of a 2015 national election, fuelling the rise of the anti-European Union UK Independence Party and increasing pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to get tougher on the issue. (Reuters UK – 8/07/14)

EU migration worth €28 billion to UK, says government report: EU migrants have made a net contribution worth €28bn to the UK since 2001 - equivalent to €3,437 (£2,732) per person per year. The report by the government's migration advisory committee adds that there is little evidence that EU migration has harmed young Britons' job prospects. (EU Observer – 8/07/14)

Irregular migration “a tragedy which affects all nations”, says Manuel Mallia: The Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security said that migration within the Mediterranean, was primarily a human tragedy that affected all nations and not just those in the southern Mediterranean. Criminal syndicates exploited the weaknesses and hopes of persons who wished for a better future and put lives at risk. There was an increasing need to work to stop these criminal activities, and prevent tragedies at sea. (Times of Malta – 9/07/14)

Migrant arrests at Calais double: French police arrested more than 7,400 migrants trying to cross the English Channel to Britain in the first six months of 2014. The figure is more than double the 3,129 arrested in the same period last year. Officials say most of the migrants came from the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea and many appeared to have arrived in Europe via Lampedusa in Italy. (The Guardian – 18/07/14)

UNHCR: Urgent European action needed to stop rising refugee and migrant deaths at sea: Some 800 asylum-seekers/migrants have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean in 2014, compared to a total 600 deaths in 2013, and 500 in 2012. The tragedies mark an intensifying crisis on Europe's shores. A rapid rise in incidents over recent weeks has prompted calls for urgent measures by European countries to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent such tragedies. (UNHCR – 24/07/14)

‘Every migrant boat has pregnant women’: Libyan smugglers and migrants interviewed by the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat revealed that several migrant communities living in Libya believed that being pregnant would facilitate their journey to Europe. According to the Integra Foundation Director, expectant mothers are often given preferential treatment by smugglers but not local authorities. (Times of Malta – 24/07/14)

Migrants Tell of Mass Murder on Vessel Smuggling Migrants from Libya: Migrants told IOM of a nightmare voyage from Libya that ended with 29 of their group suffocating to death from choking fumes in the hold of an over-crowded vessel, where they had been driven at knife-point. The Libyan smugglers reportedly placed the black sub-Saharan Africans in the hold without life jackets. As many as 180 may have perished and many were thrown overboard. (IOM – 25/07/14)

Malta: desperation drives boat migrants – new report: JRS Malta hosted the launch of 'Going West', a report on mixed migration from the Horn of Africa to Libya and Europe, based on extensive field research by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS (Jesuit Refugee Service Newsroom - 25/07/14)

Better management of dead and missing migrants needed in Europe: Currently, Europe has no centralized system for identifying the bodies of migrants, who often travel without documentation, nor for informing their families in origin countries…Now there is mounting pressure from migrant and human rights advocates who argue that migrants’ families have a right to know the fate of missing relatives and European governments should be doing more to help them. (IRIN News - 28/07/14)

Italy: Migrants at sea highlight need for humanitarian assistance and legal protection: Red Cross National Societies in places such as Italy and Malta - where tens of thousands have arrived by boat in recent years - focus on supporting the authorities to provide all vulnerable migrants with lifesaving humanitarian assistance. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in its Migration Policy calls on states to offer humanitarian assistance and access to relevant services to migrants irrespective of their legal status. (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – 31/07/14)

African asylum seekers helpless against Gazan rockets: Tens of thousands of African asylum seekers in Israel are confused and frightened when they hear the siren warning of an impending rocket attack. They many resident in south Tel Aviv say that they have not received instructions on what to do during an impending attack, those in detention claim the instructions they receive are not clear. (Haaretz – 10/07/14)

KENYA

Immigration control

5,000 citizenship files dug up: Police are investigating former Cabinet ministers over irregular issuance of citizenship to foreigners. The citizenship certificates were issued between 2005 and March 2010. (Daily Nation – 9/07/14)

Six Ethiopians arrested in Kwale for illegal stay: Police in Kwale, a county along the southern coast of Kenya, arrested six Ethiopians who were hiding in a house in Shimoni. The Police suspect the six were on transit to neighbouring Tanzania and eventually South Africa. Shimoni, a port town on Kwale’s southerly tip, has become a point of exit for irregular migrants going to South Africa through Tanzania. The Ethiopians are being held in Shimoni Police Station. (The Standard – 10/07/14) [Print media].

IPOA faults crackdown on refugees in Eastleigh: The Independent Policing Oversight Authority has faulted the recent crackdown on refugees and alleged illegal aliens in Eastleigh and other parts of Nairobi saying that it does not observe human rights. [The full report can be accessed here](The Standard – 14/07/14)

Kenya back in court over Somali refugee roundup: Rights groups are helping Somali refugees to appeal a high court ruling that allowed Kenya to send 100,000 refugees living in urban areas to overcrowded camps, while 29 police officers involved in mass arrests in a Somali-dominated neighbourhood may face prosecution for abuse. (Thomson Reuters Foundation – 16/07/14)

Refugees, refugee camps and displacement

Insecurity, Lack of Funds Hamper Refugee Camps: Refugee camps in Kenya and other countries in Africa are facing an unexpected decline of rations reduction due to shortages of funding. According to UNHCR and the WFP the cuts in funding are a result of insecurity that has affected deliveries. (CAJ News – 3/07/14)

IOM Kenya’s Assistance to Refugees from South Sudan: Since the onset of the crisis, 39,919 South Sudan refugees have entered the country (UNHCR 4 July). Meanwhile, the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) has begun registering refugees three times a week and has urged UNHCR to hasten the process of the construction of the Transit Centre at the border point. (IOM – 6/07/14)

Kenya: Refugees appeal against forced relocation to camps: According to Amnesty International, refugees in Nairobi are appealing against a controversial ruling that would force thousands of Somalis from their homes to live in squalid overcrowded camps in north Kenya. The Human Rights organization described the ruling as outrageous. (Amnesty International – 11/07/14).

Urban refugees in Kenya dismayed over court ruling upholding relocation directive: A Kenyan High Court ruling to uphold a directive ordering all refugees to move into designated camps has left refugees disheartened and anxious about their future. Initially High Court Judge David Majanja halted the order, but on June 30th he threw out the petition, ruling that the "petitioners have not established that their rights and fundamental freedoms under the constitution have been violated". (Sabahionline – 11/07/14)

Curbing time-consuming, dangerous searches for firewood: Lack of safe access to firewood can be life-threatening. Women who have to leave the security of camps to seek wood – often in arid areas already lacking adequate vegetation -- not only face the threat of rape but compete with a host population who also need the resource. The hours searching for wood also prevent better use of the time, such as attending school. (UNHCR – 15/07/14).

Refugee camps on spot as poaching and deforestation threaten Dadaab: Once again, refugees at the Dadaab camps have been faulted, not for insecurity in the county, but for degrading the environment. Garissa executive member in charge of environment Salah Yakub says that environmental destruction by the refugees has left some 650,000 people in the host community vulnerable. Yakub threatened to sue the national government and UNHCR if they repatriated refugees without compensating the host community for degrading the environment. (The Star 25/07/14)

Drought conditions set to worsen Somalia food crisis: According to the humanitarian coordinator, funding is urgently needed so that aid agencies can provide food, livelihood resources, health assistance and nutritional support to people in the worst-affected areas. He expressed special concern for about 350,000 displaced people living in deplorable conditions in Mogadishu, where acute malnutrition rates and mortality levels have already surpassed emergency thresholds, and where the situation is set to worsen. (Reliefweb – 8/07/14)

Somali Refugees Find an Unlikely Home … In Istanbul: Istanbul has become a staging post for Somalis hoping to eventually travel on to Australia, Canada or the United States, migration trend watchers say. Because of the constant population flux, it is difficult to estimate the number of refugees actually living on the street at any given moment, but street residents say that there are a few hundred Somalis living there. (Inter Press Service – 29/07/14)

UNMISS Update, 9 July 2014: As of 9 July, the estimated number of civilians seeking safety in ten Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites located on UNMISS bases is 97,136. UNMISS remains concerned about the number of IDPs in its military bases, particularly in Bentiu where the numbers continue to remain high. The bases were not prepared or established to house so many IDPs for such a lengthy period of time, as a result a number of IDPs live in congested conditions, with serious sanitary and health concerns; all of which are exacerbated further with the rainy season. (Reliefweb – 9/07/14)

The United States Contributes Additional Humanitarian Assistance for the Crisis in South Sudan: The US State Department announced it will provide nearly $22 million in additional humanitarian assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Sudan and South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. With this latest funding, the United States is providing more than $456 million in humanitarian assistance in fiscal year 2014 to refugees, IDPs, and other conflict-affected populations impacted by the crisis in South Sudan. (US State Department – 10/07/14)

Hundreds of foreigners holed up in South Sudan camps: Hundreds of nationals from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia have been holed up in UN bases since the outbreak of the conflict in South Sudan in mid-December 2013. Many cannot return to their home countries for fear of persecution or imprisonment. (IRIN – 14/07/14)

IOM Regional Response to South Sudan Crisis: Over 1.1 million people remain internally displaced across South Sudan and over 399,000 people have fled the violence to neighbouring countries (Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya). Refugees travelling to Kenya continue to face insecurity along the way. As a result, they are now taking a longer route to Kenya and/or requesting for police escorts in the area. (IOM - 20/07/14)

SUDAN

South Sudanese squatters flooded after heavy Sudan rains: Crude camps housing South Sudanese have been flooded by heavy rains that inundated the Sudanese capital. More than 86,000 South Sudanese have fled to Sudan, mostly to White Nile state, since war began there in December, according to the United Nations. (Agence France-Presse – 30/07/14)

SOUTH AFRICA

Refugee children win right to learn: Case comment on litigation brought by Lawyers for Human Rights and the Centre for Child Law on behalf of separated children who are in legal limbo (being undocumented) and are unable to access basic education. (Mail & Guardian – 4/07/14)

Refugees lose security jobs: Over 100 refugees and asylum seekers have lost their jobs in Cape Town’s security industry, following enforcement of a 2002 regulation. These regulations say that only citizens and permanent residents may register to be security guards. Refugees and asylum seekers are among those rendered jobless. (Ground Up - 18/07/14)

TANZANIA

Tanzania Acts to Protect Trafficked Children: The fight against human trafficking is one of the core activities of the International Organization for Migration in Tanzania, which is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. IOM Tanzania, in collaboration with Tanzania’s Anti-Trafficking Secretariat, convened a stakeholders’ meeting to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The SOPs will outline the roles and responsibilities of all the parties involved, as well as provide guidelines for case management and information sharing. (IOM News – 22/07/14)

YEMEN:

Desertification a threat to millions of Yemenis: The World Day to Combat Desertification took place on June 17 to bring awareness to one of the greatest global challenges to sustainable development. In Yemen, drought and increasing desertification in rural areas has pushed people to relocate to towns and cities. It is also one of the factors that make Sana’a one of the fastest growing capital cities in the world, with a growth rate of seven percent. (Yemen Times – 1/07/14)

Yemen IDPs mull return to Amran after ceasefire: Thousands of people displaced by recent heavy fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces in the city of Amran in northern Yemen are looking to return to their homes following a recent Houthi withdrawal, but they face significant challenges. (IRIN – 31/07/14)

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The RMMS is primarily funded by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss government and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development , with support from other donors for specific projects.